Spyderco Byrd Cara Knife

by Landon Hawkins | Last Updated: 10/25/2017

The Golden, Colorado-based cutlery knife manufacturing giant – Spyderco is known for its premium quality and ergonomically designed pocket knives. Even though the products have manufactured in different parts, they bear the company’s promised quality and standards. They meet up to the promise of redefining the pocket knife, instead of applying makeup to it. Spyderco Byrd Cara Cara2 is Spyderco’s affordable line of product. From the manufacturing unit in China, Byrd promises to deliver same splendid design, quality and build as compared to the company’s high-end product line. The comet-shaped or the droplet-shaped spidey hole is the latest innovation from Spyderco in their budget line products.

Pros

Giving the people an Endura 4 for a cheaper price. The design of the knife is excellent compared to other knives, the Spydey hole also adds to knife’s advantage.

Cons

The noticeable disadvantage of the knife will be the mediocre quality blade, it’s sharp but very thin. For some people the screws were of an issue during the shipping itself. Since this is a budget knife from China, Spyderco doesn’t have the best customer support or parts for this product.

Spyderco Byrd Cara Cara2, specs!

Materials used in the blade: is 8Cr13MoV Steel with Fiber Reinforced Nylon handle.

Spyderco’s out of the box thinking and peculiar designs have gained them so much recognition in the pocket knife industry. All major models from Spyderco ranges high in terms of price. Byrd is Spyderco’s ticket in taking over low cost pocket knife market, which are mostly dominated by small local brands. The Spyderco Byrd Cara Cara2 or (gen 2) is truly an inspiration from the Endura First generation, as they look similar in terms of the outline and design with few differences. Spyderco has given its low end customers a pocket knife to boast upon, with same kind of build quality.

The Blade

The knife’s blade is made out of 8Cr13MoV Steel, this is a Chinese version of AUS8 with similar properties and performance and provides the same function. The steel is rust resistant and offers great durability & hardness for a less budget, hence Spyderco makes use of this steel in its Byrd series. The grade of the blade differs from people making it. Overall it’s a capable steel and shows no sign of weakness. The blade’s edge stability is good, it can be sharpened without breaking. The Byrd series uses unique set of this steel for maximum efficiency and long lasting use.

The blade also features a comet shaped spydey hole, to assist in one handed opening. The jimping on the spine and at the back of the knife gives better grip while holding the knife open. The finger choil also increases the steel handle’s usage. The blade is fully flat, to give a greater cutting precision. It’s as good, if not better as the upgraded knife, the Spyderco Endura 4.

The handle

Cara Cara 2 comes with 3 different handle materials namely textured G-10, Stainless steel, and the lightweight FRN. This light weight material doesn’t contribute much to the overall weight, hence we chose Fiber Reinforced Nylon over the other two. The handle is textured to give a better hold of it, even while in action. The company claims it to be “bi-directional” textured, nothing fancy, other than the raised textures at one end- giving extra tight gripping in our hand, also feeling great to hold it. The handles holds the blade through phosphor bronze pivot washers, this can be tightened or loosened according to user’s need, providing smooth deployment and closing of blade. The 4 screws hold together the entire construction of the handle. The handle is very similar to it’s competitor, the Buck FlashPoint Hunting Knife.

The locking mechanism

The Byrd series comes with a decent locking mechanism; the typical back lock. The lock is positioned mid-way with Spyderco’s safety measure called David Boye cut-away dent that permits tight gripping without releasing the lock, even accidently. The clip on the handle locks the knife in your pocket, supporting all 4 possible ways of using it. It has a similar look to the Tac Force TF-705 knife.

Our final verdict on the Spyderco Byrd Cara Cara2

Even though a lot of concerns arises while choosing this knife, because of the “Chinese made” tag. We say that it is worth the money spend, Byrd being a line of budget knives, Spyderco have given a splendid product for the price. The blade tends to last longer bearing the everyday abuse a pocket knife can get, the handle being light weight makes it easy to carry everywhere for all kinds of purposes like cutlery cutting, outdoor usage, and sport or be it defense purpose, Cara Cara 2 keeps up a good reputation. Priced at such an affordable price, few people started to call it “Poor Man’s Endura 4”. That says all, in terms of function, performance, and quality from Spyderco. Cara Cara 2 comes with limited warranty for manufacturing defect. All this puts Byrd Cara Cara 2 in our best pick category. It also is reviewed on our best EDC knife guide.